IP address is almost always different

[Addison]

Every time I plug in my Pi, I need to find the IP address in Emulation Station, then edit my saved profiles on programs such as WinSCP and Putty.

The address is always the same except for the last digits:
http://192.168.254.xxx

Is there an easy way to keep it static so it will stop doing that?

I use Windows 7 and have a Netgear router, Model D2200D (this came in the mail with my Frontier internet service).

Thanks. :)

EDIT: Forgot to mentioned that my Pi is wired to my internet using an ethernet cable, so it's not wireless.

[BuZz]

@addison some routers allow for setting the same IP every time via the MAC address. You would need to check on the router admin screen.

Alternatively you can set a static IP on Raspbian Jessie via /etc/dhcpcd.conf - see https://nebulousthinking.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/setting-a-static-ip-for-raspbian-jessie-in-2016/

[jonnykesh]

@addison Easiest way to do it is to reserve an IP address through your router. Otherwise just google "static IP address raspbian jessie"

[stoo]

@addison https://kb.netgear.com/25722/How-do-I-reserve-an-IP-address-on-my-NETGEAR-router

You can find the MAC address of your RPi under the Show IP in the RetroPie menu. It's the six pairs of colon-separated hex characters in the format b8:27:eb:xx:xx:xx

[mitu]

@addison Is there a reason for not using a hostname (retropie) instead of the IP address ? If you're using DHCP on your router, the IP address might change over time (unless you create a reservation), but the hostname should always be retropie.

[cyperghost]

@mitu +1 for you
That's the easiest solution indeed!
I always use this. It even works for annother RetroPie setup but not simultanous of course ;)